Thank you all for your replies. It seems that I am in a very happy position of loving rich, brandy soaked, extravagant fruitcake, the children have flown the nest, and the wife's not too keen on it, so I tend to get a fair percentage of it!Looking at my calendar, I'm going to have make it next weekOrganising my list of wishes to make while I'm stirring it !!!

I thought you made a wish when mixing the festive pudding on “stir-up Sunday “

Haha surely no harm in chancing your luck with a wish to go in with the cake😊

Started soaking my fruit at the end of September (whisky here, not brandy). The cake will be baked towards the week before stir up Sunday and it'll be fed every week until about the week before Christmas when I'll marzipan and ice it.